Rage of the Time Lords: The Missing Link

"I've always been the stuff of nightmares."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: July 2019

Series: The War Master 3.03

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, War Master

Synopsis

On a desolate world in the distant future, the Master embarks on his latest scheme, aided and abetted by a team of brilliant scientists. But who is he truly working for? And in a universe at war, is there anyone left in all the cosmos who can stop him?

Verdict

The Missing Link was an excellent story to continue along the Rage of the Time Lords third series of adventures for the War Master! This time we finally got to see the incarnation take on the Doctor and it would obviously make sense that this would be the eighth incarnation given everything that comes with the Time War. It is a great shame that John Hurt passed away as the prospect of him and Derek Jacobi performing together would have been staggering. But alas, Paul McGann did very well and the way he was delayed in being introduced to proceedings was good and the right move. We hear a muffled reply through the door as Alice's physic abilities are enhanced and I just knew that her calls for help were going to be answered by the Doctor. It was fine that it was predictable too because it was the right way to go about things and was just an entertaining story. This was undoubtedly the audio where the War Master was at its best and after we learned that The Survivor and The Coney Island Chameleon were just two instances out of 523 (at least) where the Master preyed and captured beings with special traits or abilities was fantastic. It was a nice way of bringing everything together and it only seemed right that the Doctor would be the missing link needed to complete whatever whacky puzzle the Master is putting together. Derek Jacobi was just sublime in his calm evilness and it was almost certainly my favourite performance of his. I think Alice definitely has the makings of a companion, but I admittedly hope that things don't move forward from there with the Doctor. Her relationship with him was good and I liked that she knew who he was and what he meant based on the image planted from the Master's mind. It was masterful the way he manipulated events on Xenotopia to get things perfectly panned out for his plan. The deceit and feigning knowledge was terrific. One key quality of the Master being a villain is how cold he can be and I think that was best demonstrated by Anthony Ainley and Michelle Gomez's Missy, but it was on full display in this audio with the Master calmly instructing one of his scientists to short out the electrical feed by becoming part of the circuit and dying a horrible death. It was extraordinary stuff. Mandrake was a good character and I get the feeling he is going to be an important piece of the finale as he definitely seemed to be one of the more important scientists within the Master's employ. When the Master revealed that everything was all as part of the effort for the Time War, without explaining to what end, it was hardly a surprise but I was a little shocked by how long he had been carrying out the experiment. I think it's fun to play on the fact that the Master is clearly scared by the prospect of the Time War and with this experiment, he has removed himself from the front line as far as possible. And to be honest, why wouldn't he? He has no Time Lord loyalty. The Eighth Doctor being delirious and gradually so for all of the audio was brilliant and I thought it was going to be an explanation for how the Tenth Doctor wouldn't recognise him in Utopia, but that was proved wrong at the end. But it was far too late. The Master had his missing link of the Doctor who was exposed to the Time Vortex like no other. How will all these pieces pull together? I am very excited to find out. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10